Data Protection

Scope

This data protection declaration informs you about the nature, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data (hereinafter referred to as "data") within our website, functions and content as well as external online presences, such as our social media profiles (hereinafter collectively referred to as "offer"). With regard to the terms used, such as "processing" or "controller", we refer to the definitions in Art. 4 of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU-DSGVO). The legal basis for data protection can be found in the General Data Protection Regulation (EU-DSGVO), the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the Telemedia Act (TMG).

Provider and responsible body in the sense of the data protection act

energiewaechter GmbH
Mr. Thorsten Gusek
Schützenstr. 44
12165 Berlin
Tel: +49 (0)30 797 444 1 – 0
E-Mail: info@energiewaechter.de

Data protection officer in the company

Melanie Prust
E-mail: datenschutz@energiewaechter.de

Types of data processed

• Inventory data (e.g., names, addresses)
• Contact data (e.g., e-mail, telephone numbers)
• Content data (e.g., text entries, photographs, videos)
• Usage data (e.g., web pages visited, interest in content, access times)
• Meta/communication data (e.g., device information, IP addresses).

Categories of data subjects

Visitors and users (hereinafter referred to as "Users") of the Offer.

Purpose of processing
Provision of the Offer, its functions and content.

• Responding to contact requests and communicating with users.
• Security measures
• Reach measurement/marketing
• Operational and logistical planning of the delegation trip & events (e.g. networking event, hotel accommodation, food intolerances, etc.)

Terminology used

"Personal data" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (hereinafter "data subject"); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier (e.g. cookie) or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.

"Processing" means any operation or set of operations which is performed upon personal data, whether or not by automatic means. The term is broad and encompasses virtually any handling of data.

"Controller" means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which alone or jointly with others determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data.

Relevant legal basis

In accordance with Art. 13 DSGVO, we inform you of the legal basis for our data processing activities. If the legal basis is not mentioned in the privacy policy, the following applies: The legal basis for obtaining consent is Art. 6(1)(a) and Art. 7 DSGVO, the legal basis for processing to fulfill our services and carry out contractual measures and respond to inquiries is Art. 6(1)(b) DSGVO, the legal basis for processing to fulfill our legal obligations is Art. 6(1)(c) DSGVO, and the legal basis for processing to protect our legitimate interests is Art. 6(1)(f) DSGVO. In the event that vital interests of the data subject or another natural person require processing of personal data, Art. 6 (1) lit. d DSGVO serves as the legal basis.

Cooperation with processors and third parties

If, in the course of our processing, we disclose data to other persons and companies (order processors or third parties), transmit it to them or otherwise grant them access to the data, this will only be done on the basis of a legal permission (e.g. if a transmission of the data to third parties, such as payment service providers, is necessary for the performance of the contract pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. b DSGVO), you have consented, a legal obligation provides for this or on the basis of our legitimate interests (e.g. when using agents, web hosts, etc.).

These are in particular the following institutions (clients and project partners):

1. GTAI - Germany Trade and Invest (client)

GTAI contacts the registered foreign participants after the respective delegation trip has taken place for the purpose of providing advice and support in the planning and implementation of investment projects in Germany. Link to GTAI Privacy Policy.

2. German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (project partners)

The regional German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK) in the US (GACC MidWest, GACC South, GACC West), Finland, Norway and Sweden contact registered foreign participants immediately with the aim of providing information & advice as well as confirmation of eligibility.

3. Regional partners in Germany (project partners)

The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, Transport and Digitalization in Lower Saxony, the Recycling Cluster for economically strategic metals (REWIMET), the Saxony-Anhalt Economic Development Corporation (IMG) and the Saxony Economic Development Corporation (WFS) will forward information about the participants to regional companies with an legitimate interest to cooperate with the foreign partners.  

Transfers to third countries

If we process data in a third country (i.e. outside the European Union (EU) or the European Economic Area (EEA)) or if this happens in the context of using third-party services or disclosing, or transferring data to third parties, this will only happen if it is done to fulfill our (pre)contractual obligations, on the basis of your consent, due to a legal obligation or on the basis of our legitimate interests. Subject to legal or contractual permissions, we process or allow the processing of data in a third country only if the special requirements of Art. 44 et seq. DSGVO are met. I.e. the processing is carried out, for example, on the basis of special guarantees, such as the officially recognized determination of a level of data protection corresponding to that of the EU or compliance with officially recognized special contractual obligations (so-called "standard contractual clauses").

Rights of the data subjects

You have the right to request confirmation as to whether data in question is being processed and to information about this data, as well as further information and a copy of the data in accordance with Art. 15 DSGVO. You have according to. Art. 16 DSGVO the right to request the completion of the data concerning you or the correction of incorrect data concerning you. You have the right, in accordance with Art. 17 DSGVO, to request that data concerning you be deleted without delay, or alternatively, in accordance with Art. 18 DSGVO, to request restriction of the processing of the data. You have the right to request that the data concerning you that you have provided to us be received in accordance with Art. 20 DSGVO and to request that it be transferred to other data controllers. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority in accordance with Art. 77 DSGVO.

Right of withdrawal

You have the right to revoke any consent given in accordance with Art. 7 (3) DSGVO with effect for the future.

Right of objection

You may object to the future processing of data relating to you in accordance with Art. 21 DSGVO at any time. The objection can be made in particular against processing for direct marketing purposes.

Cookies and right to object to direct advertising

Cookies" are small files that are stored on users' computers. Different information can be stored within the cookies. The primary purpose of a cookie is to store information about a user (or the device on which the cookie is stored) during or after his visit to an offer. Temporary cookies, or "session cookies" or "transient cookies", are cookies that are deleted after a user leaves an offer and closes his browser. In such a cookie, for example, the contents of a shopping cart in an online store or a login jam can be stored. Cookies that remain stored even after the browser is closed are referred to as "permanent" or "persistent". For example, the login status can be stored if users visit them after several days. Likewise, the interests of users can be stored in such a cookie, which is used for range measurement or marketing purposes. Third-party cookies" are cookies that are offered by providers other than the responsible party that operates the offer (otherwise, if they are only its cookies, they are referred to as "first-party cookies").

We may use temporary and permanent cookies and provide information about this in our privacy policy. If users do not want cookies to be stored on their computer, they are asked to deactivate the corresponding option in the system settings of their browser. Stored cookies can be deleted in the system settings of the browser. The exclusion of cookies can lead to functional restrictions of this offer.

A general objection to the use of cookies for online marketing purposes can be declared for a large number of services, especially in the case of tracking, via the U.S. site http://www.aboutads.info/choices/ or the EU site http://www.youronlinechoices.com/. Furthermore, the storage of cookies can be achieved by disabling them in the browser settings. Please note that in this case not all functions of this offer can be used.

Deletion of data

The data processed by us will be deleted or restricted in its processing in accordance with Articles 17 and 18 DSGVO. Unless expressly stated within the scope of this data protection declaration, the data stored by us will be deleted as soon as they are no longer required for their intended purpose and the deletion does not conflict with any statutory retention obligations. If the data is not deleted because it is required for other and legally permissible purposes, its processing will be restricted. I.e. the data is blocked and not processed for other purposes. This applies, for example, to data that must be retained for reasons of commercial or tax law.

According to legal requirements in Germany, data is retained in particular for 6 years in accordance with Section 257 (1) of the German Commercial Code (commercial books, inventories, opening balances, annual financial statements, commercial letters, accounting vouchers, etc.) and for 10 years in accordance with Section 147 (1) of the German Fiscal Code (AO) (books, records, management reports, accounting vouchers, commercial and business letters, documents relevant for taxation, etc.).

Business-related processing

In addition, we process

• Contract data (e.g., subject matter of contract, term, customer category).
• Payment data (e.g., bank details, payment history)

of our customers, prospective customers and business partners for the purpose of providing contractual services, service and customer care, marketing, advertising and market research.

Hosting

The hosting services used by us serve to provide the following services: Infrastructure and platform services, computing capacity, storage space and database services, security services and technical maintenance services, which we use for the purpose of operating this online offering.

In doing so, we, or our hosting provider, process inventory data, contact data, content data, contract data, usage data, meta data and communication data of customers, interested parties and visitors of this online offer on the basis of our legitimate interests in an efficient and secure provision of this online offer pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO in conjunction with Art. 28 DSGVO. Art. 28 DSGVO (conclusion of order processing contract).

Collection of access data and log files

We and, if applicable, our hosting provider collect on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO, we collect data about each access to the server on which this service is located (so-called server log files). The access data includes the name of the website accessed, file, date and time of access, amount of data transferred, notification of successful access, browser type and version, the user's operating system, referrer URL (the previously visited page), IP address and the requesting provider.

Log file information is stored for security reasons (e.g. for the clarification of abuse or fraud) for a maximum of 7 days and then deleted. Data whose further storage is required for evidentiary purposes is exempt from deletion until final clarification of the respective incident.

Provision of contractual services

We process inventory data (e.g., names and addresses as well as contact data of users), contract data (e.g., services used, names of contact persons, payment information) for the purpose of fulfilling our contractual obligations and services pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit b. DSGVO. The entries marked as mandatory in online forms are required for the conclusion of the contract.

In the context of the use of our online services, we store the IP address and the time of the respective user action. The storage is based on our legitimate interests, as well as those of users in protection against misuse and other unauthorized use. In principle, this data is not passed on to third parties, unless it is necessary for the pursuit of our claims or there is a legal obligation to do so pursuant to Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. c DSGVO.

We process usage data (e.g., the web pages visited on our online offer, interest in our products) and content data (e.g., entries in the contact form or user profile) for advertising purposes in a user profile, e.g., to display product information to users based on the services they have used to date.

The deletion of the data takes place after the expiry of legal warranty and comparable obligations, the necessity of keeping the data is reviewed every three years; in the case of legal archiving obligations, the deletion takes place after their expiry. Information in any customer account shall remain until it is deleted.

Administration, financial accounting, office organization, contact management.

We process data in the context of administrative tasks as well as organization of our operations, financial accounting and compliance with legal obligations, such as archiving. In this regard, we process the same data that we process in the context of providing our contractual services. The processing bases are Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c. DSGVO, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO. Customers, interested parties, business partners and website visitors are affected by the processing. The purpose and our interest in the processing lies in the administration, financial accounting, office organization, archiving of data, i.e. tasks that serve the maintenance of our business activities, performance of our tasks and provision of our services. The deletion of data with regard to contractual services and contractual communication corresponds to the information mentioned in these processing activities.

In this context, we disclose or transfer data to the tax authorities, consultants, such as tax advisors or auditors, as well as other fee offices and payment service providers.

Furthermore, based on our business interests, we store information on suppliers, event organizers and other business partners, e.g. for the purpose of contacting them at a later date. This data, most of which is company-related, is generally stored permanently.

Contact

When contacting us (e.g. by contact form, e-mail, telephone or via social media), the user's details are processed for the purpose of handling the contact request and its processing pursuant to Art. 6 (1) lit. b) DSGVO. The user's details may be stored in a customer relationship management system ("CRM system") or comparable inquiry organization.

We delete the inquiries if they are no longer necessary. We review the necessity every two years; Furthermore, the legal archiving obligations apply.

Comments and contributions

When users leave comments or other contributions, their IP addresses are stored on the basis of our legitimate interests within the meaning of Art. 6 (1) lit. f. DSGVO are stored for 7 days. This is done for our security in case someone leaves unlawful content in comments and posts (insults, prohibited political propaganda, etc.). In this case, we ourselves can be prosecuted for the comment or post and are therefore interested in the identity of the author.

Newsletter

With the following information we inform you about the contents of our newsletter as well as the registration, dispatch and statistical evaluation procedure and your rights of objection. By subscribing to our newsletter, you agree to receive it and to the procedures described.

Content of the newsletter: We send newsletters, e-mails and other electronic notifications with promotional information (hereinafter "newsletter") only with the consent of the recipient or a legal permission. If the contents of the Newsletter are specifically described in the context of a registration, they are decisive for the consent of the users. Otherwise, our newsletters contain information about our services and us.

Double opt-in and logging: Registration for our newsletter is carried out in a so-called double opt-in process. This means that after registration you will receive an e-mail in which you are asked to confirm your registration. This confirmation is necessary so that no one can register with other e-mail addresses. The registrations for the newsletter are logged in order to be able to prove the registration process according to the legal requirements. This includes the storage of the registration and confirmation time, as well as the IP address. Likewise, changes to your data stored with the dispatch service provider are logged.

Registration data: To register for the newsletter, it is sufficient to provide your e-mail address. Optionally, we ask you to enter a name for the purpose of a personal address in the newsletter.

Germany: The dispatch of the newsletter and the associated performance measurement is based on the consent of the recipients in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a, Art. 7 DSGVO in conjunction with § 7 para. 2 No. 3 UWG or on the basis of legal permission in accordance with § 7 para. 3 UWG.

The logging of the registration process is based on our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f DSGVO. Our interest is directed towards the use of a user-friendly as well as secure newsletter system that serves our business interests as well as meets the expectations of the users and furthermore allows us to prove consent.

Tracking: This involves so-called tracking pixels. A tracking pixel is a miniature graphic that is embedded in emails sent in HTML format to enable log file recording and log file analysis. We use this data to optimize the sending of newsletters and to better adapt the content of future newsletters to the interests of the data subject. The personal data will not be passed on to third parties.

Based on the embedded tracking pixel, we can see whether and when an e-mail was opened by a data subject and which links in the e-mail were called up by the data subject. This so-called click behavior is stored and evaluated by us (see here Art. 13, esp. para. 1 lit. d). After the evaluation of the click behavior, the data subject may be contacted by telephone.

Data subjects are entitled to revoke the declaration of consent given at any time. After a revocation, this personal data will be deleted by the controller. A withdrawal from the receipt of the newsletter is automatically interpreted as a revocation.

Cancellation/revocation - You can cancel the receipt of our newsletter at any time, i.e. revoke your consents. You will find a link to cancel the newsletter at the end of each newsletter. We may store unsubscribed email addresses for up to three years based on our legitimate interests before deleting them to be able to prove consent formerly given. The processing of this data is limited to the purpose of a possible defense against claims. An individual deletion request is possible at any time, provided that the former existence of consent is confirmed at the same time.

Sendinblue

We use Sendinblue GmbH (formerly newsletter2go) to send our newsletters as an email marketing platform based on our legitimate interests: Sendinblue GmbH, Köpenicker Str. 126, 10179 Berlin, Germany;

Website: https://sendinblue.com 

Privacy policy: https://de.sendinblue.com/legal/privacypolicy/

Google Analytics

Based on our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google LLC ("Google"). Google uses cookies. The information generated by the cookie about the use of the online offer by the users is usually transmitted to a Google server in the USA and stored there.

Google is certified under the Privacy Shield agreement and thereby offers a guarantee of compliance with European data protection law (https://www.privacyshield.gov/participant?id=a2zt000000001L5AAI[&]status=Active).

Google will use this information on our behalf for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage. In doing so, pseudonymous usage profiles of the users can be created from the processed data.

We only use Google Analytics with IP anonymization activated. This means that the IP address of users is shortened by Google within member states of the European Union or in other contracting states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area. Only in exceptional cases will the full IP address be transmitted to a Google server in the USA and shortened there.

The IP address transmitted by the user's browser is not merged with other data from Google. Users can prevent the storage of cookies by setting their browser software accordingly; users can also prevent the collection of the data generated by the cookie and related to their use of the online offer to Google, as well as the processing of this data by Google, by downloading and installing the browser plugin available at the following link:[nbsp]http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=de.

For more information about Google's use of data, settings and opt-out options, please visit Google's websites:

• www.google.com/intl/de/policies/privacy/partners ("Data use by Google when you use our partners' websites or apps")
• www.google.com/policies/technologies/ads ("Data use for advertising purposes")
• www.google.de/settings/ads ("Manage information Google uses to display ads to you").

Online presence in social media

We maintain online presences within social networks and platforms in order to be able to communicate with customers, interested parties and users active there and to inform them about our services there. When calling up the respective networks and platforms, the terms and conditions and data processing policies of their respective operators apply.

Unless otherwise stated in our privacy policy, we process the data of users if they communicate with us within the social networks and platforms, e.g. write posts on our online presences or send us messages.

Integration of third-party services and content

Within our online offer, we use content or service providers on the basis of our legitimate interests (i.e. interest in the analysis, optimization and economic operation of our online offer within the meaning of Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f. DSGVO) to integrate content or services offered by third-party providers, such as videos or fonts (hereinafter uniformly referred to as "content").

This always requires that the third-party providers of this content are aware of the IP address of the user, since without the IP address they could not send the content to their browser. The IP address is thus required for the display of this content. We endeavor to use only such content whose respective providers use the IP address only for the delivery of the content. Third-party providers may also use so-called pixel tags (invisible graphics, also known as "web beacons") for statistical or marketing purposes. The "pixel tags" can be used to evaluate information such as visitor traffic on the pages of this website. The pseudonymous information may also be stored in cookies on the user's device and may contain, among other things, technical information about the browser and operating system, referring websites, time of visit and other information about the use of our online offer, as well as be combined with such information from other sources.

Google Maps

We integrate the maps of the service "Google Maps" of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/,

Opt-Out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Google ReCaptcha

We integrate the function for the recognition of bots, e.g. for entries in online forms ("ReCaptcha") of the provider Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Privacy policy: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/, Opt-Out: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated.

Modification of our privacy policy

In order to ensure that our data protection declaration always complies with the current legal requirements, we reserve the right to make changes at any time. This also applies in the event that the data protection declaration has to be adapted due to new or revised services, for example new services. The new data protection statement will then apply the next time you visit our website.